How do I scale in, and then extrude a smaller square column up
Have you tried using (g) on your keyboard to grab the face and move it?

you can also extrude in any direction by pressing (e) to extrude, and then the direction you wish to extrude in.

e, x - this will extrude in the direction of X. You can also use (g) after you extrude to fine tune your extrusion

g, x

If this is not what you want, please be a little more descriptive with your question.